At the foot of Mount Emei in the western Chinese province of Sichuan, a sleek new building has taken shape. The tiles on the roof are locally sourced, some of the barrels it contains are hewn from indigenous oak and on one of its interior walls, its Chinese name has been written with a single strand of barley dipped in ink.
Far from Scotland, the home of Scotch, The Chuan is one of around 30 whisky distilleries either completed or under construction in China. The $130mn project for drinks group Pernod Ricard is a sign of western companies’ intent to support the market’s growth by investing in local production of a spirit yet to take off fully with Chinese consumers.
Diageo, another leading global drinks group, is building a distillery in nearby Yunnan province, while Nine Rivers, a crowdfunded distillery in the south-eastern province of Fujian, aims to produce whisky, gin and vodka.